Rockland street sign honors Vietnam casualty

A “fallen hero” street sign was placed at the intersection of Hingham and Webster streets in Rockland on Sunday. The 5 p.m. dedication ceremony was held to honor Army Pfc. James M. Keller, who was 20 when he was killed in action in Vietnam in 1970.

A “fallen hero” street sign was placed at the intersection of Hingham and Webster streets in Rockland on Sunday.

The ceremony honored Army Pfc. James M. Keller, who was 20 when he was killed in action in Vietnam in 1970.

About 50 people – 25 of them veterans – gathered around the sign, which reads: “Fallen Hero, Pfc. James M. Keller Square, Vietnam, U.S. Army, Age 20.”

Selectmen Lawrence Chaffee and Deborah O’Brien attended the ceremony, as did state Rep. Rhonda Nyman.

Keller’s mother, Angie Keller, 92, accepted the sign and led the group in the “Pledge of Allegiance.”

Angie Keller said her son “was very well loved by all of his friends.”

“He was a fun, loving person,” she said.

Jeff Najarian, Rockland Allied Veterans Council president, said two other “fallen hero” signs had already been put up, in memory two Rockland residents killed in Iraq, Walter O’Haire and Matt Pollini.

A total of 53 such signs will be erected in Rockland, many of them along Union Street. Each will give name and rank of a fallen soldier, the war he was in, his military branch, and the age he lived to. A pamphlet will be available to help people to locate specific signs.

“It’s a way of visibly being able to honor those who have served,” Najarian said. “We must never forget them for what they have done.”